BUREAU OF 

PRISONS

Opportunities Exist to 

Enhance the 

Transparency of 

Annual Budget 

Justifications

Report to Congressional Requesters

December 2013

GAO-14-121

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

 

Highlights of GAO-14-121, a report to 

congressional requesters

December 2013

BUREAU OF PRISONS

Opportunities Exist to Enhance the Transparency of 

Annual Budget Justifications

Why GAO Did This Study

BOP, a component of DOJ, is 

responsible for the custody and care of 

over 219,000 federal inmates—a 

population that has grown by 27 

percent over the past decade. BOP 

had a fiscal year 2013 operating 

budget of about $6.5 billion, and BOP 

projects that its costs will increase as 

the federal prison population grows. 

According to officials, BOP’s biggest 

challenge is managing the increasing 

federal inmate population, and related 

responsibilities, within budgeted levels. 

Generally, BOP is appropriated funds 

through two accounts: S&E and B&F. 

To prepare its annual congressional 

budget justification for DOJ, BOP 

estimates its costs and resource 

requirements and sends its requested 

amounts to DOJ. GAO was asked to 

review BOP’s budget justifications. 

This report (1) identifies the types of 

costs that compose BOP’s budget 

accounts as presented in its budget 

justifications, and (2) assesses the 

extent to which opportunities exist to

enhance the transparency of 

information in BOP’s budget 

justifications for congressional 

stakeholders and decision makers. 

GAO analyzed DOJ and BOP budget 

justification documents for fiscal years 

2008 through 2014 and interviewed 

officials to determine how they develop 

budget justifications.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the Attorney 

General consult with congressional 

decision makers on providing 

additional BOP funding detail in future 

budget justifications, and in conjunction 

with BOP, take action as appropriate. 

DOJ concurred. 

What GAO Found

The largest account in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons 

(BOP) budget justification—its Salaries and Expenses (S&E) account— is 

composed mainly of costs associated with Inmate Care and Programs and 

Institution Security and Administration, both of which have grown steadily since 

2008. This growth is due predominantly to increases in prison populations, which 

are the primary cost driver of BOP’s budget. The other two program, project and 

activity (PPA) elements in the S&E account are associated with the care and 

custody of federal offenders in contract facilities and maintenance and

administration. BOP’s Buildings and Facilities (B&F) account, which makes up on 

average less than 3 percent of its budget, pays for costs associated with site 

planning; acquisition; and construction of new facilities and costs of remodeling 

and renovating existing facilities, and related costs. In fiscal year 2014, the 

budget justification reflected a total of $6.9 billion; of which over 95 percent ($6.8 

billion) was for BOP’s S&E account.

GAO found that BOP is collecting more detailed quantitative cost data on the 

components that constitute each PPA, which could be useful to congressional 

decision makers when reviewing BOP’s budget justification. In accordance with 

departmental and Office of Management and Budget guidance, BOP’s budget 

justifications summarize amounts by PPA, so BOP is not required to provide 

additional funding data below the PPA level in its budget justification. Providing 

this information to Congress could help clarify what BOP proposes to spend on 

specific categories and subcategories reflected in its budget justification. For 

example, BOP’s budget justification for fiscal year 2014 included $2.5 billion for 

the Inmate Care and Programs PPA element and included narrative information 

for categories such as Medical Services, Food Service, Education and Vocational 

Training, Psychology Services, and Religious Services, as well as narrative 

summaries for various subcategories. However the budget justification did not 

include proposed funding amounts for each of these categories. GAO’s analysis 

shows that this additional information can be useful in identifying trends and cost 

drivers that may affect future costs. For example, GAO’s analysis identified 

variations in the dollar amounts associated with the cost components that 

constitute the PPA, such as drug abuse treatment and education, which could 

affect decision making for that PPA. However, BOP’s current budget justification 

does not include this detail. Congressional decision makers have previously 

requested additional information about BOP’s budget presentations and data 

below the PPA level. BOP’s budget requests for its S&E account have increased 

33 percent since fiscal year 2008, which makes transparency in its budget 

justifications even more crucial. Consulting with congressional decision makers 

to determine if it would be helpful to include in its budget justifications the 

additional cost information that DOJ already collects would help provide 

reasonable assurance that BOP is fully meeting congressional decision makers’ 

needs and would enhance the transparency of its budget justifications. 

BOP also provides narrative summaries of 

its initiatives, services, and organizational units in categories and subcategories 

under each PPA. BOP officials said that they include these narrative descriptions 

to provide additional information to congressional decision makers. 

View GAO-14-121. For more information, 

contact David C. Maurer at (202) 512-9627 or 

maurerd@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Letter 1 

Background 5

Institution Security and Inmate Care Constitute the Majority of 

BOP’s Salaries and Expenses Account Costs as Presented in Its 

Budget Justifications 9

BOP Could Enhance the Transparency of Its Budget Justification 

by Providing Additional Data on Cost Components within the 

Program, Project, and Activity Levels 16

Conclusions 27

Recommendation for Executive Action 27

Agency Comments 28

Appendix I Dollar Amounts Associated with Bureau of Prisons’ Budget 

Request Financial Management Information System (FMIS) 

Data Fields for Inmate Care and Programs 30

Appendix II Narrative Summaries for Institution Security and 

Administration, Inmate Care and Programs, and Contract 

Confinement in the Bureau of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 

Budget Justification 31

Appendix III GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 35

Table

Table 1: Proposed Improvements and Offsets in the Bureau of 

Prisons’ (BOP) Inmate Care and Programs and Institution 

Security and Administration Programs, Projects, and 

Activities Elements for Fiscal Year 2014 14

Figures

Figure 1: Formulation of the Federal Budget Process and Roles of 

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department 

of Justice (DOJ), and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) 6

Contents 
Page ii GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 2: President’s Budget Requests for Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) 

Salaries and Expenses Account for Fiscal Years 2008 

through 2014 10

Figure 3: The President’s Budget Request for the Bureau of Prisons’ 

(BOP) Salaries and Expenses Account by Program, 

Project, or Activity Elements for Fiscal Year 2014 11

Figure 4: Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget Justification by 

Program, Project, and Activity Element for Salaries and 

Expenses Account for Fiscal Years 2008 through 2014 13

Figure 5: Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget Justification Structure 15

Figure 6: Categories in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget 

Justification for Fiscal Year 2014 for Inmate Care and 

Programs and Institution Security and Administration 

Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) Elements Compared 

with Cost Center Data Fields in the Department of 

Justice’s (DOJ) Financial Management Information 

System (FMIS) 19

Figure 7: Changes in Dollar Amounts Associated with Bureau of 

Prisons’ (BOP) Financial Management Information 

System (FMIS) Data Fields for the Inmate Care and 

Programs’ Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) from 

Fiscal Years 2008 through 2014. 21

Figure 8: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ 

(BOP) Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Justification for Institution 

Security and Administration Program, Project, and 

Activity (PPA) Element with Funding Amounts Associated 

with Data Fields in the Financial Management 

Information System (FMIS) 23

Figure 9: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ 

(BOP) Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Justification for Inmate 

Care and Programs Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) 

Element with Funding Amounts Associated with Data 

Fields in the Financial Management Information System 

(FMIS) 24

Figure 10: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ 

(BOP) Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Justification for Contract 

Confinement Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) 

Element with Funding Amounts Associated with Data 

Fields in the Financial Management Information System 

(FMIS) 25
Page iii GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Abbreviations 

AOE advanced occupational education

B&F Buildings and Facilities

BOP Bureau of Prisons

CCC community corrections contracting

CRS Congressional Research Service

DOJ Department of Justice

DRI Dietary Reference Intakes 

ESL English as a Second Language 

FLETC Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

FMIS Financial Management Information System

FPI Federal Prison Industries, Inc. 

HSD Health Services Division

ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICT Introduction to Correctional Techniques

JMD Justice Management Division

M&A Management and Administration

NCA National Corrections Academy

NIC National Institute of Corrections

OMB Office of Management and Budget

PPA program, project, and activity

RDAP Residential Drug Abuse Program

RRC Residential Reentry Centers 

S&E Salaries and Expenses

STA Staff Training Academy

USPHS U.S. Public Health Service

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VCCLEA Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Page 1 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

December 6, 2013

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is 

responsible for the custody and care of over 219,000 federal inmates—a 

population that has grown by 27 percent over the past decade. BOP is 

composed of 119 institutions, 6 regional offices, 2 staff training centers, 

22 residential reentry management offices (previously called community 

corrections offices), and a central office in Washington, D.C. With a fiscal 

year 2013 operating budget of about $6.5 billion—the second-largest 

budget within DOJ—BOP projects that its costs will increase as the 

federal prison population grows through 2018.1 According to BOP 

officials, BOP’s biggest challenge is managing the continually increasing 

federal inmate population, and providing for inmates’ care and safety, as 

well as the safety of BOP staff and surrounding communities, within 

budgeted levels. A variety of factors contribute to the size of BOP’s 

population. These include national crime levels, law enforcement policies, 

and federal sentencing laws, all of which are beyond BOP’s control.2

The federal budget process provides the means for the President and 

Congress to decide how much money to spend and what to spend it on. 

The process begins when federal agencies develop budget requests to 

be considered in the development of the President’s budget request to 

Congress and, as applicable, provide the budget requests through their 

respective departments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

In support of the President’s budget request, departments also submit 

congressional budget justifications to the appropriate appropriations 

committees, typically to provide additional information regarding the 

changes between the current appropriation and the amounts requested 

 

1

These projections are from BOP’s 2020 capacity plan dated January 10, 2010. BOP’s 

2020 long-range capacity plan projected continued growth in the federal prison population 

from fiscal years 2012 through 2020, with system-wide crowding exceeding 45 percent 

through 2018. For more information, see GAO, Bureau of Prisons: Growing Inmate 

Crowding Negatively Affects Inmates, Staff, and Infrastructure, GAO-12-743 (Washington, 

D.C.: Sept.12, 2012). According to BOP’s fiscal year 2014 budget justification, as the 

inmate population continues to increase, BOP projects a continued increase in required 

resources to provide for safe inmate incarceration and care, and the safety of BOP staff 

and the surrounding communities. Residential reentry management offices identify a need 

for residential reentry center (i.e., halfway house) services in a specific area and 

administer contract services related to the centers’ operations. 

2

GAO-12-743. 

 
 

Page 2 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

for the next fiscal year.3 OMB provides general guidance to federal 

agencies and ensures that budget requests are consistent with relevant 

statutes and presidential objectives.4

We previously evaluated the budget justifications of other agencies to 

assess, for example, whether the budget justifications are presented so 

that agency priorities are clear and the proposed use of funds is 

transparent.

DOJ also provides annual 

department-specific guidance to its component agencies for submitting 

budget justifications.

5 In conducting these evaluations, we identified opportunities 

for federal agencies to improve information on program costs and results 

that could aid congressional stakeholders in resource decision making 

and program oversight.6 In addition, we reported on various aspects of 

BOP’s budget and operations. For example, in November 2009, we found 

that BOP faced funding gaps in its operations account that left it with 

limited management flexibility.7 We also found that while BOP had sound 

cost estimation practices, the agency could improve the transparency and 

documentation of its budget development process.8

 

3

See GAO, A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process, 

Specifically, we 

recommended that BOP (1) analyze the extent to which operations costs 

could vary because of changes in key cost assumptions and (2) improve

documentation of calculations used to estimate its costs. BOP concurred 

with the recommendations and procured the services of a consulting 

GAO-05-743SP 

(Washington, D.C.: September 2005).

4

Office of Management and Budget, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the 

Budget, OMB Circular No. A-11.

5

For example, see GAO, Veterans’ Health Care Budget: Transparency and Reliability of 

Some Estimates Supporting President’s Request Could Be Improved, GAO-12-689 

(Washington, D.C.: June 11, 2012); Internal Revenue Service: Assessment of Budget 

Justification for Fiscal Year 2011 Identified Opportunities to Enhance Transparency, 

GAO-10-687R (Washington, D.C.: May 26, 2010); Army Corps of Engineers: Budget 

Formulation Process Emphasizes Agencywide Priorities, but Transparency of Budget 

Presentation Could Be Improved, GAO-10-453 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 2, 2010).

6 For example, see GAO, IRS 2013 Budget: Continuing to Improve Information on 

Program Costs and Results Could Aid in Resource Decision Making, GAO-12-603

(Washington, D.C.: June 8, 2012).

7

GAO, Bureau of Prisons: Methods for Cost Estimation Largely Reflect Best Practices, but 

Quantifying Risks Would Enhance Decision Making, GAO-10-94 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 

10, 2009).

8

GAO-10-94. 
 

Page 3 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

company to conduct the analysis. In September 2011, and subsequently 

in March and July 2012, BOP transmitted the results of the analysis to 

DOJ and OMB to support preparation of the 2013 and 2014 budget 

justifications, which fully addressed our recommendation. BOP also took 

action to improve the documentation of its budget cost estimation 

methods. In August 2010, we met with BOP budget officials to review 

their fiscal year 2011 budget justification documentation and found BOP’s 

calculations and results to be well documented.9

Growth in the federal inmate population and its effect on BOP’s budget is 

a matter of continuing congressional interest. For example, in the 

conference report for the Consolidated and Further Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2012,10 congressional decision makers expressed 

concern that the current upward trend in the prison inmate population was 

unsustainable.11

To identify the types of costs that compose BOP’s budget accounts, we 

reviewed DOJ and BOP budget justification documents, budget and 

performance summaries and accompanying budget exhibits for fiscal 

years 2008 through 2014, as well as the standards and guidance for 

developing budget information and leading practices for developing 

program costs outlined in GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment 

Guide.

You asked us to review BOP’s budget justifications. This 

report (1) identifies the types of costs that compose BOP’s budget 

accounts as presented in its budget justifications, and (2) assesses the 

extent to which opportunities exist to enhance the transparency of 

information in BOP’s budget justifications for congressional stakeholders 

and decision makers.

12

 

9

Generally, BOP is appropriated funds through two accounts: 

GAO-10-94. GAO closed these recommendations as implemented.

10Pub. L. No. 112-55, 125 Stat. 552 (2011).

11H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 112-284, at 241 (2011). 

12Office of Management and Budget, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the 

Budget, OMB Circular No. A-11; Department of Justice, Memorandum for Heads of 

Department Components, Guidance for Preparing Fiscal Year 2013 Budgets (Washington, 

D.C.: May 23, 2011); and GAO, GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best 

Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs, GAO-09-3SP 

(Washington, D.C.: March 2009). GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide is a 

compilation of cost-estimating best practices drawn from across industry and government. 
 

Page 4 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Salaries and Expenses (S&E) and Buildings and Facilities (B&F).13

To assess the extent to which opportunities exist to enhance the 

transparency of information in BOP’s budget justifications, we obtained 

and analyzed the cost component funding information that composed 

three of BOP’s four PPAs for the S&E account—Inmate Care and 

Programs, Institution Security and Administration, and Contract 

Confinement PPAs.

Because BOP’s S&E account generally represents over 95 percent of 

BOP’s budget, we focused our review on the S&E account. Moreover, we 

selected 2008 as the starting point for our analysis because BOP began 

using a consistent format for presenting information on its programs, 

projects, and activities (PPA) in its 2008 budget justification.

14 Specifically, we identified the changes in dollar 

amounts associated with these cost components for fiscal years 2008 

through 2014. BOP’s fourth PPA—Management and Administration 

(M&A)—constituted about 3 percent of the total amount requested for 

fiscal years 2008 through 2014; thus, we focused our analysis on the 

three PPAs that constituted the largest amount of funds requested. Our 

report in November 2009 included an assessment of the reliability of

information that BOP officials gathered from DOJ’s Financial 

Management Information System (FMIS) and concluded that the data 

were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of the review.15

 

13The S&E account includes annual and multiyear appropriations, while the B&F account 

includes no-year appropriations. No-year appropriation is budget authority that remains 

available for obligation for an indefinite period of time. In addition, BOP is responsible for a 

Trust Fund account that receives spending authority from offsetting collections for revenue 

earned through the sale of goods and services. According to BOP’s 2012 financial audit, 

Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI)—also called UNICOR—is a separate reporting 

component of DOJ. FPI employs and provides job skills training to federal inmates. We did 

not include the Trust Fund and FPI budget accounts in our review because they are nonappropriated accounts.

To assess the 

reliability of FMIS data, we interviewed BOP budget officials who said no 

changes were made to FMIS or data gathered from this system since 

fiscal year 2009; thus we determined that the data were sufficiently 

14According to BOP officials, they use the cost data they maintain in DOJ’s Financial 

Management Information System to develop estimated dollar amounts for the cost 

components that compose BOP’s PPAs.

15GAO-10-94. FMIS supports DOJ components’ financial management requirements. 

FMIS includes various modules to support the financial and administrative requirements of 

DOJ’s components. BOP officials said that they use FMIS to maintain BOP’s historical 

cost and budget data. 
 

Page 5 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

reliable for the purposes of this review. We also interviewed officials in 

DOJ’s Justice Management Division (JMD) and budget officials in BOP’s 

Administration Division and Budget Development and Execution branches 

to discuss their approach for developing and presenting information in the 

budget justification. Specifically, we discussed with DOJ officials the 

guidance they provided to components for developing budget 

justifications. We discussed with BOP officials the type of funding 

information and financial management systems used to develop their 

budget justifications. 

We conducted this performance audit from February 2013 to December

2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Through the budget system, the President and Congress determine the 

allocation of resources among the agencies of the federal government. 

OMB, as part of the Executive Office of the President, guides the annual 

budget process, makes decisions on executive agencies’ budgets, 

aggregates submissions for departmental components, and submits the 

consolidated document for the executive branch as the President’s 

Budget Request to Congress. OMB issues guidance to federal agencies 

through OMB Circular A-11, which provides instructions for submitting 

budget data and materials, as well as criteria for developing budget 

justifications.16

 

16Office of Management and Budget, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the 

Budget, OMB Circular No. A-11.

Within DOJ, the Justice Management Division issues 

additional annual budget development guidance to DOJ’s components, 

including BOP, usually about 1.5 years before the fiscal year begins for 

the budget cycle. JMD budget staff (1) collect and analyze all of the 

components’ budget requests, taking into consideration department-wide 

policy priorities and OMB guidance; (2) coordinate with DOJ policy 

Background 

Overview of Federal 

Budget Process and BOP

Budget Development
 

Page 6 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

offices; and (3) secure approval and submit the Attorney General’s 

budget submission to OMB. Key steps in this process are shown in 

figure 1.

Figure 1: Formulation of the Federal Budget Process and Roles of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Bureau of 

Prisons (BOP)

Note: JMD is DOJ’s Justice Management Division.

When developing its budget justification, BOP estimates costs for budget 

accounts using three steps, as described below.

• First, BOP estimates cost increases for maintaining the current level 

of services for operations as provided in the prior year’s enacted 

budget. These include costs to address mandatory staff pay raises 
 

Page 7 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

and benefit increases, inmate medical care, and utilities. BOP 

analyzes historical obligations from the past 5 years to identify 

average annual operating cost increases. BOP records its obligations 

in FMIS—one of DOJ’s financial accounting and reporting systems. 

According to BOP officials, FMIS is BOP’s primary tool for cost 

reporting and budget execution.17

• Second, BOP projects inmate population changes for the budget year 

and for 9 years into the future.

BOP also considers economic 

indicator information to estimate general inflationary cost increases 

using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, 

among other sources.

18 For example, for the fiscal year 2014 

budget justification, BOP projected a net growth in its inmate 

population of 5,400 (2.4 percent) for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

19

• Third, BOP estimates costs to house the projected number of new 

inmates, including building and facility requirements. According to 

BOP, the increasing inmate population is the primary driver of new 

service costs. BOP also identifies and estimates costs for new 

initiatives, such as the opening of a new BOP facility, by reviewing the 

proposals submitted by its divisions and regional offices, as well as 

historical data on costs for implementing such initiatives.

In November 2009, we found that BOP’s methods for cost estimation 

largely reflected best practices outlined in the GAO Cost Estimating and 

Assessment Guide.

20

 

17FMIS supports BOP’s financial management requirements. FMIS includes various 

modules to support the financial and administrative requirements of DOJ’s components. 

We concluded that for fiscal year 2008, BOP 

followed a well-defined process for developing a mostly comprehensive, 

well-documented, accurate, and credible cost estimate, and we made 

18BOP uses a calculation model to identify the number of inmates currently in BOP’s 

system and the length of those inmates’ sentences, as well as the number of inmates 

estimated to enter the BOP system and the length of their sentences. Using this model, 

BOP identifies each inmate as a unique record tied to variables such as conviction year, 

sentence term, and conviction type, with data obtained from a variety of sources, including 

the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the 

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. .

19According to BOP officials, after the budget was submitted they revised the projected 

inmate growth based on their current estimate of 3,200 for fiscal year 2014, which is equal 

to a 1.4 percent change in inmate population. 

20GAO-09-3SP

Prior GAO work on BOP 

Costs and Budget 

Justification Reviews
 

Page 8 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

recommendations to further improve BOP’s process.21 Specifically, we 

recommended that BOP (1) analyze the extent to which operations costs 

could vary because of changes in key cost assumptions and (2) improve 

documentation of calculations used to estimate its costs. BOP concurred 

with the recommendations and took appropriate actions to address them 

as noted above. In November 2009, we also reported on various 

challenges that BOP faced, including prison crowding levels. For 

example, we found that from fiscal years 2000 through 2009, BOP’s total 

inmate population level increased by 44 percent—from 145,125 to 

209,027.22 In November 2009, we also reported that BOP estimated its 

total inmate population would continue to increase by about 4,500 

inmates per year over the next decade.23 In September 2012, we 

reviewed the growth in BOP’s population and found that the 9.5 percent 

population growth from fiscal years 2006 through 2011 exceeded the 7 

percent increase in its inmate capacity, and reported that BOP projects 

continued population growth.24

In our work related to budget reviews across the federal government, we 

have reported that an agency’s budget justification may be the single 

most important policy document because it depicts and reconciles policy 

objectives, and we have identified the potential to enhance the 

transparency of agencies’ budget justifications by providing additional 

details and information. 25 For example, in our September 2012 review of 

the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care budget, we 

concluded that federal agencies’ congressional budget justifications 

should be transparent—that is, they should be clear and easy to 

understand—in part because Congress relies on this information to make 

resource allocation decisions and conduct oversight.26

 

21

Further, we 

GAO-10-94. 

22According to BOP officials, the revised total inmate population for fiscal year 2009 was 

208,759.

23According to BOP officials, they have revised their projected annual increase in total 

inmate population to about 3,000 inmates per year over the next 10-year period.

24GAO-12-743. 

25GAO-10-687R. 

26GAO, Veterans’ Health Care Budget: Better Labeling of Services and More Detailed 

Information Could Improve the Congressional Budget Justification, GAO-12-908 

(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 18, 2012).
 

Page 9 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

concluded that in order to facilitate decision making, information needs to 

be clear and organized in a way that is meaningful to decision makers. 

We recommended, among other things, that VA further consult with 

congressional decision makers to determine what detailed information 

related to its appropriations accounts should be included—and how—in 

its congressional budget justification. VA concurred with the 

recommendations and has begun taking actions to address them.

BOP’s largest account—its S&E account— is composed mainly of costs 

associated with Inmate Care and Programs and Institution Security and 

Administration, both of which have grown steadily since 2008, 

predominantly because of increases in prison populations, which are the 

primary cost driver of BOP’s budget.27 The other two PPAs in the S&E 

account are associated with the care and custody of federal offenders in 

contract facilities and maintenance and administration.

28 BOP’s budget 

justification for fiscal year 2014 reflected the President’s budget request 

of a total of $6.9 billion, including $6.8 billion for its S&E account.29 Figure 

2 shows that the President’s budget request for BOP’s S&E account has 

increased from fiscal years 2008 through 2014.30

 

27According to OMB, cost drivers are those variables that, when changed in value, create 

the greatest changes in cost. Office of Management and Budget, Capital Planning Guide, 

Supplement to OMB Circular No. A-11: Planning, Budgeting, and Acquisition of Capital 

Assets (July 2013).

28BOP’s B&F account, which makes up on average less than 3 percent of its budget, pays 

for costs associated with site planning; acquisition; and construction of new facilities and 

costs of remodeling, renovating, and equipping existing facilities for penal and correctional 

use. BOP’s S&E account on average makes up more than 95 percent of its budget. 

29The President’s 2014 budget request also included $105 million for BOP’s B&F account.

30According to our analysis of the President’s budget request for BOP, the S&E account 

increased slightly from $6,820,217,000 for fiscal year 2013 to $6,831,150,000 for fiscal 

year 2014.

Institution Security 

and Inmate Care 

Constitute the 

Majority of BOP’s 

Salaries and Expenses 

Account Costs as 

Presented in Its 

Budget Justifications
 

Page 10 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 2: President’s Budget Requests for Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Salaries and 

Expenses Account for Fiscal Years 2008 through 2014

Note: The dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest $0.1billion.

BOP’s budget justification includes its proposed use of funds for each 

account by PPA.31

 

31OMB and GAO define “program, project, or activity” as an element within a budget 

account. For budgetary purposes, DOJ uses the term “decision units” to refer to PPAs. 

BOP’s budget justification also includes summary cost information for each account by 

object classification, such as personnel compensation, supplies and materials, and 

equipment. The B&F account has two PPA elements: (1) New Construction funding to 

expand existing facilities and acquire or construct new prison facilities, and (2) 

Modernization and Repair funding to keep existing facilities in an adequate state of repair 

to provide a safe and secure environment to continue prison operations. 

BOP’s budget for S&E costs consists of four PPAs, 

and as shown in figure 3, the Inmate Care and Programs PPA, and 

Institution Security and Administration PPA, and Contract Confinement 

PPA accounted for about 97 percent of the President’s 2014 budget 

request for BOP’s S&E account, according to BOP’s budget justification.
 

Page 11 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 3: The President’s Budget Request for the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Salaries 

and Expenses Account by Program, Project, or Activity Elements for Fiscal Year 

2014 

Below is a description of the four PPAs that compose BOP’s S&E 

account.

• The Inmate Care and Programs PPA covers the operational costs of 

functions directly related to providing inmate care, including inmate 

food, medical care, drug treatment, and psychological services; 

education and vocational training; institutional and release clothing; 

welfare service; and transportation. For example, the budget 

justification for fiscal year 2014 proposes the use of funds to help 

address increases in chronic medical care for inmates. Additionally, 

the budget justification for fiscal year 2014 proposes the use of funds 

to expand evidence-based treatment practices to treat drug offenders 

and reduce recidivism.32

 

32BOP’s Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) is an evidence-based treatment 

program intended to treat drug offenders and reduce recidivism. RDAP requires inmates 

to identify, confront, and alter the attitudes, values, and thinking patterns that lead to 

criminal and drug-using behavior. 
 

Page 12 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

• The Institution Security and Administration PPA covers costs 

associated with institution security, administration, maintenance, and 

staff training.33

• The Contract Confinement PPA covers costs associated with BOP 

inmates in contract care and costs associated with management and 

oversight of contract facilities and residential reentry centers as well 

as the National Institute of Corrections.

These costs include salaries for correctional officers 

assigned to every BOP institution and expenses for facility 

maintenance and utilities. 

34

• The Management and Administration PPA covers costs associated 

with general administration and provides funding for the executive 

staff as well as headquarters and regional office program managers in 

the areas of budget development and execution, financial 

management, procurement and property management, human 

resource management, inmate systems management, safety, legal 

counsel, research and evaluation, and systems support.

As shown in figure 4, while the amounts reflected for BOP’s Management 

and Administration PPA have remained relatively constant, the Inmate 

Care and Programs and Institution Security and Administration PPAs, and 

to a lesser extent the Contract Confinement PPA, have grown steadily 

 

33All institutions are assigned a security classification level based in part on the physical 

design of each facility. There are four security levels: minimum, low, medium, and high. 

Additionally, there is an administrative category for institutions that house a variety of 

specialized populations such as pretrial, medical, mental health, sex offender, and U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 

detainees.

34In fiscal year 2013, BOP reported that 19 percent of the inmate population was housed 

outside of BOP facilities in alternative confinement, including private prisons, Residential 

Reentry Centers (RRC or halfway houses), state and local facilities, and home detention. 

BOP’s National Institute of Corrections provides training, technical assistance, information 

services, and policy and program development assistance to federal, state, and local 

correctional agencies. 
 

Page 13 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

since 2008, predominantly because of increases in prison populations 

which are the primary cost driver of BOP’s budget.35

Figure 4: Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget Justification by Program, Project, and 

Activity Element for Salaries and Expenses Account for Fiscal Years 2008 through 

2014

In addition to the budget justification broken down by PPA dollar amounts, 

the budget justification provides a summary of increases (i.e., 

improvements) and decreases (i.e., offsets) to the current year’s 

 

35The President’s budget request for BOP for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 reflects that

BOP officials incorporated Management and Administration costs into the other PPA 

elements in the S&E and B&F accounts. In fiscal year 2010, officials reverted to the 

historical approach of reflecting M&A costs as a separate PPA element in response to 

congressional and OMB guidance. For the purposes of our analysis and to more clearly 

illustrate trends in BOP’s budget, we prorated the M&A costs for these 2 fiscal years (2008 

and 2009) to approximate the dollars associated with the M&A PPA element for those 

years. BOP officials agreed that the prorated allocation effectively approximated the 

dollars associated with M&A for those years.
 

Page 14 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

appropriation.36

Table 1: Proposed Improvements and Offsets in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) 

Inmate Care and Programs and Institution Security and Administration Programs, 

Projects, and Activities Elements for Fiscal Year 2014

For example, in BOP’s budget justification for fiscal year 

2014, BOP described the $35.1 million net increase (1.2 percent) in the 

Institution Security and Administration PPA from fiscal year 2013 in terms 

of three increases and two decreases, as shown in table 1. Further, BOP 

described the dollar amounts associated with the $1.7 million (0.07 

percent) net increase in the Inmate Care and Programs PPA from fiscal 

year 2013 in terms of five increases and two decreases.

Salaries Expenses

Institution Security and Administration $2,995,794,000

Net Program Improvements and Offsets +$35,134,000

1. Improvement: Open Administrative United

States Penitentiary Thompson, IL +$28,504,000

2. Improvement: Open Facility Hazelton, WV +$15,910,000

3. Improvement: Open Facility Yazoo City, MS +$17,406,000

4. Offset: Good Conduct Time -$22,455,000 a

5. Offset: Information Technology Savings -$4,231,000

Inmate Care and Programs $2,509,802,000

Net Program Improvements and Offsets +$1,738,000

1. Improvement: Open Administrative Thomson, IL +$15,196,000

2. Improvement: Open Facility Hazelton, WV +$9,072,000

3. Improvement: Open Facility Yazoo City, MS +$11,015,000

4. Improvement: Expand Residential Drug Abuse Treatment +$15,000,000

5. Improvement: Expand Reentry/Recidivism Reducing Programs +$20,000,000

6. Offset: Good Conduct Time -$18,545,000 a

7. Offset: Medical Cost Adjustments -$50,000,000

Source: GAO analysis of BOP’s fiscal year 2014 budget justification.

 

36According to BOP’s fiscal year 2014 budget justification, budget offsets reflect 

management actions to streamline operations, improve program efficiencies, and reduce 

costs to ensure the lowest possible costs despite the growing inmate population. 

According to BOP’s fiscal year 2014 budget justification, the summary of increases 

reflects BOP’s program changes or improvements such as facility openings and drug 

treatment program expansion and decreases reflect BOP’s management actions to 

streamline operations, improve program efficiencies and reduce costs. 
 

Page 15 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

a

BOP also provides narrative summaries of its initiatives, services, and 

organizational units in categories and subcategories under each PPA.

Offsets related to Good Conduct Time refer to potential savings related to proposed legislation. 

Specifically, according to BOP’s fiscal year 2014 budget justification ,the administration has proposed 

legislation to amend federal inmate good conduct time credit to provide inmates incentives that 

encourage positive behavior. The proposed sentencing reforms include (1) an increase in the amount 

of credit an inmate can earn for good behavior, and (2) a new sentence reduction credit, which 

inmates can earn for participation in education and vocational programming.

37

Figure 5: Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget Justification Structure

BOP officials said that they include these narrative descriptions to provide 

additional information to congressional decision makers. Figure 5 

provides an example of the structure of the budget justification reflecting 

categories and subcategories for which BOP provided narrative 

descriptions to support its justification for the four PPA elements under 

the S&E account in fiscal year’s 2014 congressional budget justification. 

 

37For the purposes of our analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to 

describe the structure of BOP’s annual budget justification based on our review of BOP’s 

annual budget justification for fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014. Although BOP officials 

did not use the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the initiatives, services, 

and organizational units reflected in BOP’s annual budget justification, they generally 

agreed to the use of these terms as a way to describe the organization of their annual 

budget justification. 
 

Page 16 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

We found that BOP is collecting more detailed quantitative cost data on 

the components that constitute each PPA, which could be useful to 

congressional decision makers when reviewing BOP’s budget 

justification. In accordance with departmental and OMB guidance, BOP’s 

budget justifications summarize amounts by PPA, so BOP is not required 

to provide additional funding data below the PPA level in its budget 

justification. Providing more comprehensive information could help clarify 

BOP’s proposed spending on specific categories and subcategories 

reflected in its budget justification. For example, BOP’s budget 

justification for fiscal year 2014 included $2.5 billion for the Inmate Care 

and Programs PPA element and included narrative information for 

categories such as Medical Services, Food Service, Education and 

Occupational Training, Psychology Services, and Religious Services, as 

well as narrative summaries for various subcategories, but did not include 

proposed funding amounts for these categories. Our analysis shows that 

this additional information can be useful in identifying trends and cost 

drivers that may affect future costs, which could be particularly helpful 

given the 33 percent growth in BOP’s budget request from fiscal years

2008 through 2014.

Our prior work has identified factors driving BOP’s cost increases in 

specific categories that constitute each PPA. For example, in July 2013, 

we found that per capita mental health services costs have increased in 

BOP-operated institutions since fiscal year 2008 and are expected to 

continue to increase. Further, we found that these increases were 

generally due to three factors—inmate population increases, general 

inflationary increases, and increased inmate participation rates in 

psychology treatment programs.38 As we reported in July 2013, BOP’s 

expanded inmate participation in its Residential Drug Abuse Program, 

which helped reduce waiting lists for the program, had increased overall 

program costs.39

 

38See GAO, Bureau of Prisons: Timelier Reviews, Plan for Evaluation, and Updated 

Policies Could Improve Mental Health Services Oversight, 

In addition, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) 

reported in January 2013 that BOP’s expenditures on utilities, food, and 

medical care have generally increased each fiscal year since 2000, 

although the per capita increase in the cost of food and utilities has not 

been as pronounced as the increase in the per capita cost of inmate 

GAO-13-1 (Washington, D.C.: 

July 17, 2013).

39GAO-13-1. 

BOP Could Enhance 

the Transparency of 

Its Budget 

Justification by 

Providing Additional 

Data on Cost 

Components within 

the Program, Project, 

and Activity Levels
 

Page 17 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

medical care.40

We met with staff from the authorizing and appropriations committees to 

obtain their views on the adequacy of BOP’s budget justification and 

these staff had mixed views. While some staff said that they were 

generally satisfied with the amount of information BOP provided 

concerning its budget, others said that BOP’s budget justification lacked 

transparency and that they would benefit from receiving additional 

quantitative information on estimated amounts below the PPA elements. 

They said that receiving more detailed information from BOP on an asneeded basis would be helpful. In addition, congressional decision 

makers have previously requested additional information about BOP’s 

budget presentations and, in particular, data below the PPA level. For 

example, the conference report accompanying the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2010,

CRS reported that BOP officials said conditions such as 

diabetes, hypertension, and infectious diseases have a slightly higher rate 

of incidence in the incarcerated population. Thus, understanding the 

differences in costs for medical care, food services, and drug programs—

three of the cost components within the Inmate Care PPA—could help 

congressional decision makers evaluate how these trends may affect 

future costs.

41 stated that BOP’s fiscal year 2011 budget 

request should provide detailed descriptions of the major categories of 

activities composing each decision unit and the proposed funding levels 

for each such category, including comparisons to prior year obligations for 

each category.42

Our analysis of FMIS data shows that BOP is capturing detailed 

information on the cost components within the PPAs, which BOP is not 

currently providing in its budget justifications. For example, for the Inmate 

Care and Programs PPA, food service, psychology services, and religious 

services are three categories reflected in the budget justification that have 

comparable FMIS cost component data fields. However, the budget 

justification provides narrative descriptions that do not have comparable 

cost component data for these three categories, which DOJ captures in 

FMIS. According to BOP officials, while they use the historical cost data in 

 

40Congressional Research Service, The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Overview, 

Policy Changes, Issues, and Options, R42937 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 22, 2013).

41Pub. L. No. 111-117, 123 Stat. 3034 (2009).

42H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366, at 671 (2009). 
 

Page 18 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

FMIS to inform their budget development process, the FMIS cost 

component data fields are not always directly linked to specific narrative 

categories in the budget justification for BOP because they use their 

judgment to identify categories that they consider to be of specific interest 

to congressional decision makers (e.g., dollar amounts, trends, or policy 

concerns) rather than standardized cost components. For example, BOP 

includes narrative in the budget justification to describe costs related to 

categories such as Medical Services and Food Service, among others. As 

figure 6 shows, there are similarities in the FMIS data fields for which 

BOP captures detailed cost information and those categories BOP uses 

to describe its budget justifications. This additional information could 

provide congressional decision makers with additional insights into factors 

driving BOP’s budget.
 

Page 19 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 6: Categories in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Budget Justification for Fiscal 

Year 2014 for Inmate Care and Programs and Institution Security and 

Administration Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) Elements Compared with Cost 

Center Data Fields in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Financial Management 

Information System (FMIS)

a

While BOP does not provide in its budget justifications information on the 

cost components composing each PPA, BOP officials already capture this 

information, using data from FMIS, as part of their annual budget 

development process. We requested specific, quantitative information 

below the PPA level and BOP provided us with dollar amounts associated 

with the data fields in FMIS that constitute Inmate Care and Programs, 

Institution Security and Administration, and Contract Confinement PPAs 

for fiscal years 2008 through 2014. Using the additional detailed 

information from DOJ’s FMIS provided by BOP budget officials, we were 

For the purpose of analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the 

structure of BOP’s budget justification, and although BOP officials did not use these terms to describe 

BOP’s initiatives, services, and organizational units, they generally agreed to the use of the terms 

“category “and “subcategory” as a way to describe the organization of their budget justification.
 

Page 20 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

able to identify changes over time in the cost components composing 

each PPA, which is information congressional decision makers could use 

when reviewing BOP’s budget justification. For example, we analyzed 

changes in the dollar amounts associated with FMIS cost component data 

fields that make up the Inmate Care and Programs PPA element over 

time. The results of our analysis show that BOP’s proposed spending for 

the Inmate Care and Programs PPA has continually increased from fiscal 

years 2008 through 2013; however, BOP’s FMIS data showed variations 

in the dollar amounts associated with the cost components that constitute 

the PPA. For example, changes in dollar amounts for medical services 

have increased by about 50 percent from fiscal years 2008 to 2014, and 

decreased slightly for the 2 most recent fiscal years—2013 and 2014. 

According to officials, the changes in dollar amounts reflect changes in 

the prison population and implementation of policy initiatives intended to 

lower costs. The results of our analysis are presented in figure 7. The 

specific dollar amounts by fiscal year for the cost components composing 

the Inmate Care and Program PPA element are provided in appendix I.
 

Page 21 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 7: Changes in Dollar Amounts Associated with Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Financial Management Information System 

(FMIS) Data Fields for the Inmate Care and Programs’ Program, Project, and Activity (PPA) from Fiscal Years 2008 through 

2014.

Note: The dollar amounts associated with FMIS data fields in this figure represent BOP’s available 

funding information used to develop justification data for the Inmate Care and Programs PPA 

element. BOP officials stated that they maintain funding data for laundry services using the Inmate 

Services FMIS data field. BOP officials also noted that they include historical information in its budget 

justification for costs of inmate medical and food services.

In addition, using the additional cost component information, our analysis 

of BOP’s FMIS data fields showed that changes in dollars associated with 

the budget justification for drug abuse treatment have increased by over 

70 percent from fiscal years 2008 to 2014, and from fiscal years 2010 

through 2012 increased by more than 15 percent each year—which 

reflects BOP’s efforts to expand its drug treatment services. While trends 

in the dollar amounts associated with medical care and drug treatment 

reflect a relatively significant increase from fiscal years 2008 to 2014, 
 

Page 22 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

changes in the dollar amounts associated with food and religious services 

remained relatively constant for this same time frame.

Our analysis of BOP’s FMIS data also showed the proportion of dollars 

associated with the FMIS data fields that compose each PPA element. 

For example, we found that for fiscal year 2014, institution security 

constituted over 50 percent of the funding based on cost components that 

compose the Institution Security and Administration PPA element. (See 

fig. 8.) In addition, we found that for this same time frame, medical 

program composed 40 percent of the funding for the Inmate Care and 

Programs PPA element, and private prison contracts made up over 60 

percent of funding for the Contract Confinement PPA element. (See figs. 

9 and 10) For additional details on each of the narrative categories, see 

appendix II. In an era of scarce federal resources and given BOP’s 

projected growth in inmate population and substantial increased costs in 

recent years, this additional detail could be helpful to congressional 

decision makers when reviewing BOP’s budget justification and making 

determinations about where to increase or decrease BOP funding.
 

Page 23 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 8: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Fiscal Year 

2014 Budget Justification for Institution Security and Administration Program, 

Project, and Activity (PPA) Element with Funding Amounts Associated with Data 

Fields in the Financial Management Information System (FMIS)

a

For the purpose of analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the 

structure of BOP’s budget justification, and although BOP officials did not use these terms to describe 

BOP’s initiatives, services, and organizational units, they generally agreed to the use of the terms 

“category “and “subcategory” as a way to describe the organization of their budget justification.

b

The figure reflects an example of the type of information provided in BOP’s narrative summaries for 

its funding categories. For more details on narrative summaries for the other funding categories listed, 

see appendix II.
 

Page 24 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Figure 9: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Fiscal Year 

2014 Budget Justification for Inmate Care and Programs Program, Project, and 

Activity (PPA) Element with Funding Amounts Associated with Data Fields in the 

Financial Management Information System (FMIS)

Notes: Percentages may not equal 100 because of rounding. a

For the purpose of analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the 

structure of BOP’s budget justification, and although BOP officials did not use these terms to describe 
 

Page 25 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

BOP’s initiatives, services, and organizational units, they generally agreed to the use of the terms 

“category “and “subcategory” as a way to describe the organization of their budget justification. b

The figure reflects an example of the type of information provided in BOP’s narrative summaries for 

its funding categories. For more details on narrative summaries for the other funding categories listed, 

see appendix II.

Figure 10: Comparison of Information in the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) Fiscal Year 

2014 Budget Justification for Contract Confinement Program, Project, and Activity 

(PPA) Element with Funding Amounts Associated with Data Fields in the Financial 

Management Information System (FMIS)

Notes: Percentages may not equal 100 because of rounding. 
 

Page 26 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

a

For the purpose of analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the 

structure of BOP’s annual budget submission, and although BOP officials did not use these terms to 

describe BOP’s initiatives, services, and organizational units, they generally agreed to the use of the 

terms “category “and “subcategory” as a way to describe the organization of their budget justification.

b

According to DOJ’s Fiscal Years 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, one of the 

department’s guiding principles is to promote transparency, performance, 

and accountability, including budget transparency.

The figure reflects an example of the type of information provided in BOP’s narrative summaries for 

its funding categories. For more details on narrative summaries for the other funding categories listed, 

see appendix II.

43 According to the 

plan, the department and its components will continue to promote budget 

transparency, performance, and accessibility by coordinating with 

leadership and regularly reporting accomplishments, among other 

actions. Further, according to federal financial accounting standards, cost 

information can be used by Congress in making policy decisions about 

allocating federal resources among programs, authorizing and modifying 

programs, evaluating program performance, and making program 

authorization decisions by assessing costs and benefits.44

BOP officials stated that they use historical cost information that BOP 

maintains in DOJ’s FMIS for budget execution and monitoring as an input 

to inform the annual budget development process. Specifically, budget 

development staff use data from the previous 3-year period for cost 

components in FMIS and adjust the funding levels based on projected 

changes in prison population and other factors to help them estimate the 

total funding needs for the future fiscal year by PPA. BOP officials further 

stated that they regularly provide additional information upon request on 

the budget justification to staff from congressional appropriations and 

congressional authorizing committees. For example, they said that JMD 

officials provide appropriators with funding information in response to 

requests for various congressional reports and hearings, as well as 

written responses to congressional inquiries related to the budget 

justification. To further clarify their budget justification to Congress and 

 

43Department of Justice, Fiscal Years 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, (Washington, D.C.).

44Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, Statement of Federal Financial 

Accounting Standards 4: Managerial Cost Accounting Standards and Concepts, July 31, 

1995. According to the standard, “It is important to note that the Board’s authority does not 

extend to recommending budgetary standards or budgetary concepts, and that is not the 

purpose of this statement. However, the Board is committed to providing relevant and 

reliable cost accounting information that supports budget planning, formulation, and 

execution.” 
 

Page 27 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

OMB, they said they have taken other steps, such as conducting tours of 

prison facilities with congressional and OMB stakeholders to demonstrate 

conditions and the basis for the President’s budget request.

BOP’s efforts to provide information upon request may meet some 

congressional committee needs; however, the additional information on 

projected costs would provide more detail on the cost drivers affecting the 

President’s request for BOP and therefore facilitate congressional 

decision making. BOP officials reported spending a total of 40 staff hours 

to compile and analyze the quantitative information below the PPA level 

in order to recreate the historical quantitative information for the prior 

fiscal years. Thus, given that BOP already captures and has readily 

available this quantitative information below the PPA level as part of its 

annual budget development process, providing this more detailed 

information to congressional decision makers could facilitate 

congressional decision making by providing a more comprehensive 

understanding of the factors affecting BOP’s budget and driving budget 

increases below the PPA elements. Consulting with congressional 

decision makers to determine if it would be helpful to include this 

information in its annual budget justification would help provide 

reasonable assurance that BOP is fully meeting congressional 

stakeholders’ needs.

According to BOP officials, BOP’s biggest challenges are managing the 

continually increasing federal inmate population while providing for 

inmates’ care and safety, as well as the safety of BOP staff and 

surrounding communities, within budgeted levels. BOP officials project 

continuing inmate population growth and estimate increases in funding 

needs for the foreseeable future. Consultation with congressional 

decision makers could help BOP identify what additional information, if 

any, is needed, such as providing more comprehensive detailed 

information on projected costs using data already gathered by BOP. This 

could enhance the transparency of BOP’s budget justification and the 

President’s budget request and better inform congressional decision 

making.

To enhance the transparency of BOP’s cost information as presented in 

DOJ’s annual congressional budget justifications, we recommend that the 

Attorney General consult with congressional decision makers on 

providing additional BOP funding detail below the PPA level in future 

Conclusions 

Recommendation for 

Executive Action
 

Page 28 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

budget justifications, and in conjunction with BOP, provide the data as 

appropriate.

We provided a draft of the report to DOJ for comment. The department 

did not provide official written comments to include in our report. 

However, in an e-mail on November 21, the DOJ liaison stated that DOJ 

concurred with our recommendation. DOJ and BOP also provided 

technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.

We are sending copies of this report to the selected congressional 

committees, the Attorney General, and the Director of BOP, and other 

interested parties. In addition, this report is available at no charge on the 

GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have any further questions about this report, please 

contact me at (202) 512-9627 or MaurerD@gao.gov. Contact points for 

our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 

on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in 

appendix III.

David C. Maurer

Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues

Agency Comments
 

Page 29 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

List of Requesters

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Tom A. Coburn, M.D.

Ranking Member

Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

The Honorable John Cornyn

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Michael S. Lee

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.

Chairman

Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, 

and Investigations

Committee on the Judiciary

House of Representatives

The Honorable Jason Chaffetz

Committee on the Judiciary

House of Representatives
Appendix I: Dollar Amounts Associated with 

Bureau of Prisons’ Budget Request Financial 

Management Information System (FMIS) Data 

Fields for Inmate Care and Programs

Page 30 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Dollars in thousands

FMIS data field 2008 a 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Medical program $664,650 $766,768 $881,271 $989,611 $1,049,803 $1,047,842 $997,525

Food services 330,026 346,715 374,704 414,675 430,234 407,556 435,489

Drug treatment 67,156 69,171 80,784 93,508 108,508 109,313 115,452

Unit management 470,970 468,029 560,354 562,789 551,150 620,722 610,092

Education 114,551 118,122 137,529 140,525 149,587 160,684 151,630

Religious Services 38,676 40,089 47,005 47,003 47,339 51,810 45,609

Psychology services 60,351 53,050 63,039 61,341 73,986 67,676 65,701

Laundry Services 64,502 b 60,757 63,043 73,368 68,706 76,461 88,304

Total inmate programs $1,810,882 $1,922,701 $2,207,729 $2,382,820 $2,479,313 $2,542,064 $2,509,802

Source: BOP.

Notes: For fiscal years 2008 and 2009, BOP officials incorporated Management and Administration 

(M&A) costs into the other PPA elements in the Salaries & Expenses (S&E) and Buildings & Facilities 

(B&F) accounts. Therefore, the funding data in this appendix exclude dollar amounts associated for 

M&A for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

a

According to BOP officials, they analyzed the funding data they collected for the following data fields 

in the Financial Management Information System to inform the amounts requested for each PPA, 

including the Inmate Care and Programs PPA element.

b

Appendix I: Dollar Amounts Associated with 

Bureau of Prisons’ Budget Request Financial 

Management Information System (FMIS) Data 

Fields for Inmate Care and Programs 

BOP officials stated that they maintain funding data for laundry services using the Inmate Services 

FMIS data field.
Appendix II: Narrative Summaries for 

Institution Security and Administration, Inmate 

Care and Programs, and Contract Confinement 

in the Bureau of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 

Budget Justification

Page 31 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Institution security and administration

Funding categories Narrative summaries a

Sentry Information System Each inmate is tracked through BOP’s Sentry Information System. Offenders are assigned a 

security and custody status, which relates to the degree of supervision needed and ensures that 

offenders are placed in the least restrictive and least costly correctional environment appropriate to 

their custody and security-level needs. The result is a grouping of offenders with similar custodial 

needs in an institution, and a relative reduction in the mixing of aggressive and nonaggressive 

offenders.

Correctional Officers Within each institution, correctional officers are assigned to security posts that are primarily 

established on the basis of structural/visual considerations. The two basic categories of security are 

external security and internal security. External security consists of a walled or fenced perimeter 

supplemented by staffed security towers and armed mobile perimeter patrols. There is also razor 

wire strung between a double fence with high mast lighting to illuminate the perimeter and highly 

technical equipment such as alarm systems and video surveillance. Entrances through the 

perimeter are controlled by a series of gates, both electrical and manual, supplemented by metal 

detection systems and search procedures for weapon and contraband control. BOP has fully 

incorporated closed circuit television technology in its higher-security facilities, which has enhanced 

supervision and provides valuable intelligence in the management of federal inmates. For practical 

purposes, all other security measures, processes, and activities can be called internal security, 

commencing when an inmate is admitted and terminating upon his or her release.

Staff supervise inmates in living units, work areas, visiting areas, dining halls, and any other area 

where inmates may be located or have access. Regularly scheduled counts are conducted several 

times a day (five on weekdays, six on weekends) in all institutions to monitor the whereabouts of 

inmates. Work supervisors and program personnel are held strictly accountable for all inmates 

under their supervision.

Inmate Disciplinary Process Violations of institution regulations are dealt with through the Inmate Disciplinary Process. 

Correctional staff members conduct investigations of the alleged misconduct and forward the 

findings to the Unit Discipline Committee. Depending on the seriousness of the charge, the Unit 

Discipline Committee will make a finding, or refer the report to the Discipline Hearing Officer for 

disposition. When practical, inmates are afforded the opportunity to participate in, and present 

evidence at a due process hearing before findings are made. Inmates may appeal these decisions 

utilizing the administrative remedy process.

Administrative Segregation The Administrative Segregation program provides for the separation of inmates who require closer 

supervision and monitoring from those in the general population. Such cases include, but are not 

limited to, protective custody, serious escape risks, threats to the security and orderly running of the 

institution. The Disciplinary Segregation program provides for segregation of offenders who have 

been found guilty of violations of rules through the Inmate Disciplinary Process.

Facility Maintenance The Facility Maintenance program is designed to adequately maintain and continue to safely 

operate the physical plants of BOP institutions. Facilities vary in age from those recently

constructed to those 100 or more years old. Thirty-four of the BOP facilities are over 50 years old. 

As of January 2013, BOP facilities are situated on 46,030 acres of land and contain approximately 

63.4 million square feet of floor area, all of which must be maintained and furnished with utility 

services. Each institution maintains communication systems including complete private automatic 

branch exchange telephone systems, radio systems including base station and mobile units, and 

several electronic detection and control systems.

Complex heating and air conditioning systems, high-pressure steam power plants, sophisticated 

hospital equipment, emergency electrical power systems and fire protection, and life safety systems 

all require regular maintenance. Despite energy-saving initiatives, discussed earlier in the budget, 

the growing inmate population and inflationary factors have significantly increased utility costs. 

Appendix II: Narrative Summaries for Institution 

Security and Administration, Inmate Care and 

Programs, and Contract Confinement in the Bureau 

of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Justification
Appendix II: Narrative Summaries for 

Institution Security and Administration, Inmate 

Care and Programs, and Contract Confinement 

in the Bureau of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 

Budget Justification

Page 32 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Institution security and administration

Funding categories Narrative summaries a

Physical Plant Physical plant requirements are identified through regular inspections conducted in the ongoing 

preventive maintenance program, formal semiannual inspections, and requests for specific needs 

identified by institution staff members. This program finances maintenance and minor improvement 

projects that normally cost $10,000 or less. However, there are policy guidelines that allow funding 

of maintenance projects (work requests) costing more than $10,000 in certain circumstances. Some 

exceptions would include emergencies or security threats such as hurricanes or disturbances. 

Maintenance and repair requirements in excess of $10,000 are normally included in the 

Modernization and Repair program of the Buildings and Facilities budget.

The work within the maintenance program is accomplished almost entirely by inmate crews under 

staff supervision. Each work crew consists of a staff foreman and 10 to 20 inmates. Each institution 

must have highly skilled staff with experience and training in every phase of construction and 

maintenance work including steam fitting, air conditioning, mechanics, or electronics repair. A few 

specific jobs are contracted out because special skills or equipment items are required, or because 

the work may be extremely dangerous. Examples of these jobs include elevator inspection and 

repair, radio frequency alignment, and water tower painting. 

Staff Training Academy The Staff Training Academy (STA) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in 

Glynco, Georgia, provides introductory and advanced correctional training for BOP law enforcement 

staff. The Introduction to Correctional Techniques (ICT) program is a 5-week program for a total of 

159 hours of instruction that is taught in two phases. Phase I consists of 2-weeks of training at the 

institution, and Phase II consists of a 3-week training program at the STA. The STA oversees the 

curriculum development and administration of the 2-week (56-hour) ICT Phase I course provided at 

all institutions for new employees prior to attending the ICT Phase II course at the STA. The ICT 

Phase II is a 3-week (103-hour) program of instruction that covers hostage situations, ethics, 

interpersonal communication skills, special offenders, diversity, inmate discipline, legal procedures, 

and so forth. Successful completion of this program (academics, firearms, and the Physical Ability 

Test) is required for continued employment of newly hired staff entering into law enforcement 

positions. In fiscal year 2012, 2,279 new employees participated in 60 classes of the ICT program. 

The STA provided advanced correctional skills training for trainers in disturbance control, firearms, 

bus operations, self-defense, and side-handle baton in fiscal year 2012. The STA also provides 

advanced correctional training for Marksman/Observer and Witness Security Escort. The majority of 

the advanced training programs are conducted at BOP institutions, resulting in substantial cost 

avoidance in training costs.

Inmate care and programs

Medical Services (Inmate 

Health Care)

All BOP institutions operate outpatient ambulatory care clinics. These clinics provide a range of 

outpatient services to inmates similar to those provided by ambulatory clinics found in most 

communities, that is, primary health care. The clinics serve as the first level of diagnostic and 

treatment services to sentenced and presentenced inmates. New institutions are typically given 2 

years after activation to obtain accreditation from the Joint Commission. Care Level I institutions are 

not required to achieve or maintain this accreditation because they predominantly house healthy 

inmate populations. All Health Services programs and operations are subject to internal review 

(Program Review) and must maintain accreditation by the American Correctional Association. Each 

institution is also required to provide data to the Health Services Division (HSD) in the form of 

outcome measures for a variety of clinical conditions (HIV, hypertension, diabetes, and so forth). 

These evaluative and accreditation activities provide HSD with valuable data regarding the quality 

and appropriateness of health care in BOP. The majority of BOP medical staff are civil service 

clinical and support professionals, and the remaining staff are U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) 

Commissions Corps Officers serving in a wide variety of clinical and specialty professions. USPHS 

provides these clinicians and administrators via an interagency agreement.
Appendix II: Narrative Summaries for 

Institution Security and Administration, Inmate 

Care and Programs, and Contract Confinement 

in the Bureau of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 

Budget Justification

Page 33 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Institution security and administration

Funding categories Narrative summaries a

Food Service BOP provides daily meals with consideration to the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for groups 

published by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, for identified 

macro- and micronutrients. Meal preparation is accomplished primarily by inmate workers (about 12 

percent of the population) under the supervision of staff. Food preparation and recipe and menu 

management are maintained by the use of a standardized national menu and a computerized Food 

Service management software system. United States Penitentiary Lompoc, California, and Federal 

Correction Institution El Reno, Oklahoma, utilize available land resources in limited production of 

beef and milk. Farm products are consumed at the producing institutions and are also shipped to 

nearby institutions to offset their need to purchase some products on the open market.

During fiscal year 2014, BOP estimates serving over 206 million meals, which is nearly 566,000 

meals per day and over 3.9 million meals per week. Despite cost containment measures, the annual 

costs have risen because of the growing inmate population and inflationary factors. 

Educational and Vocational 

Training

Inmate education programs include literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL), occupational 

education, advanced occupational education (AOE), parenting, release preparation courses, and a 

wide range of adult continuing, wellness, and structured and unstructured leisure time activities. 

Education programming provides inmates with an opportunity to learn the functional skills that 

support their reintegration into the community. At the end of fiscal year 2012, 35 percent of the 

designated inmate population was enrolled in one of more education/recreation program. BOP’s 

Office of Research has found that participation in education programs leads to a 16 percent 

reduction in recidivism by inmates who participate in these programs.

Psychology Services Psychology Services staff are an integral part of correctional treatment, as they administer programs 

of group and individual psychotherapy, crisis intervention, prosocial skill building, and staff 

consultation and training. BOP policy requires that every inmate admitted to a BOP facility be given 

an initial psychological screening, which consists of psychological interviews, social history reviews, 

and behavioral observation. The purposes of the screening are to identify special treatment or 

referral needs, provide information useful in future crisis counseling situations, identify strengths as 

well as potential adjustment problems to imprisonment, and discuss possible program needs with 

the inmates and provide information about these programs. In addition, BOP psychologists have 

traditionally provided the courts, parole officials, and prison administrators with comprehensive 

psychological evaluations of offenders.

Inmates with mental health needs are offered a range of services, including crisis counseling, 

individual and group psychotherapy, clinical case management, psychiatric treatment, and 

specialized residential treatment programs. Acutely mentally ill inmates may receive these services 

within BOP’s Psychiatric Referral Centers. However, most mental health treatment is provided in 

regular institutions. In addition to the treatment of mental illnesses, Psychology Services provides 

specialized drug abuse treatment and sex offender treatment programs. 

BOP psychologists also offer treatment services designed to develop inmates’ life skills, such as 

anger management, problem solving, social skills training, and stress management.

Drug Abuse Treatment In response to the rapid growth of federal inmates with a diagnosis of a drug disorder (40 percent of 

inmates entering BOP), BOP continues to develop evidence-based treatment practices to manage 

and treat drug-using offenders. BOP’s strategy includes early identification through a psychology 

screening, drug education, nonresidential drug abuse treatment, intensive residential drug abuse 

treatment, and community transition treatment.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (VCCLEA) of 1994 requires BOP, subject to 

the availability of appropriations, to provide appropriate substance abuse treatment for 100 percent 

of inmates who have a diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence and who volunteer for 

treatment. In fiscal year 2012, BOP was able to provide appropriate substance abuse treatment for 

100 percent of eligible inmates.
Appendix II: Narrative Summaries for 

Institution Security and Administration, Inmate 

Care and Programs, and Contract Confinement 

in the Bureau of Prisons’ Fiscal Year 2014 

Budget Justification

Page 34 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

Institution security and administration

Funding categories Narrative summaries a

Religious Services BOP employs full-time chaplains in all institutions to accommodate the constitutional right to the free 

exercise of religion, manage religious programs, and provide pastoral care to inmates. Chaplains 

routinely evaluate the needs of inmates in the institution and facilitate programs that address those 

needs. Religious Services departments offer programs directly related to spiritual development, 

community reentry, family relationships, personal responsibility, and basic religious instruction. 

Chaplains provide spiritual programs across the spectrum of faiths represented in the inmate 

population. Chaplains also train and familiarize staff regarding diverse religious beliefs and practices 

of inmates while providing guidance for institution compliance with the First Amendment and legal 

standard established by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Second Chance Act of 

2007. The passage of the Second Chance Act of 2007 ushered in the opportunity to utilize mentors 

in the delivery of pastoral care. Policy is being developed to expand the use of mentors; 23 mentor 

coordinator positions have been approved at Life Connections and Threshold Program sites.

Contract confinement

Community Corrections and 

Detention Services Branch

Responsible for the general program and policy development for BOP’s network of approximately 

250 contract residential reentry centers. Community Corrections and Detention (CCD) also works 

with community corrections contracting (CCC) to offer technical assistance in the acquisition 

process for Residential Reentry Centers services. CCD provides technical assistance to BOP’s 22 

community corrections offices in the areas of contract oversight, case management, inmate systems 

management, and financial management. Responsibility for BOP’s network of contract confinement 

facilities for federal juvenile offenders and short-term detention facilities also rests with CCD.

Privatization Management 

Branch 

Responsible for coordinating BOP’s efforts in managing a growing population of nearly 29,000 

inmates located in contractor-operated secure correctional facilities. Staff from this branch oversee 

the management and operation of facilities,

develop new requirements, establish policy and procedures, develop and manage contract budgets, 

and serve as liaisons among the contractors and BOP and other members of the federal family.

National Institute of Corrections Also included in this decision unit is the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), a federal entity that is 

authorized by statute 18 U.S.C. §4351 to provide training, technical assistance, and information 

services to federal, state, and local correctional agencies, including BOP. NIC provides technical 

assistance by sending a technical resource provider or staff to the requesting agency, or an 

individual or team of individuals from the requesting system visits another agency to gain expertise 

and experience in the specific area of concern. In fiscal year 2012, NIC delivered 244 technical 

assistance training events to federal, state, and local justice agencies.

NIC is also responsible for the National Corrections Academy (NCA), which serves as the training 

division that provides training and related services for federal, state, and local correctional 

practitioners. By developing and delivering training to prisons, jails and community corrections 

practitioners, the academy enhances interaction among correctional agencies, other components of 

the criminal justice system, public policymakers, and public and private stakeholder organizations, 

thus improving correctional programming throughout the country.

Source: BOP fiscal year 2014 budget justification.

a

For the purpose of analysis, we used the terms “category” and “subcategory” to describe the 

structure of BOP’s budget justification, and although BOP officials did not use these terms to describe 

BOP’s initiatives, services, and organizational units, they generally agreed to the use of the terms 

“category “and “subcategory” as a way to describe the organization of their annual budget 

justification.
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 35 GAO-14-121 BOP Operational Costs

David C. Maurer, (202) 512-9627 or MaurerD@gao.gov. 

In addition to the contact named above, Chris Keisling (Assistant 

Director), Carol Henn (Assistant Director), Melissa Wolfe (Assistant 

Director), Kristen Kociolek (Assistant Director), Vanessa D. Dillard, John 

Vocino, Billy Commons, Pedro Almoguera, Lara Miklozek, Linda Miller, 

Mary Catherine Hult, and Eric Hauswirth made key contributions to this 

report.

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(441132)
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 

investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its 

constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO 

examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and

policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance 

to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 

GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of 

accountability, integrity, and reliability.

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 

cost is through GAO’s website (http://www.gao.gov). Each weekday 

afternoon, GAO posts on its website newly released reports, testimony, 

and correspondence. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted 

products, go to http://www.gao.gov and select “E-mail Updates.”

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of 

production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the 

publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black and 

white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s website, 

http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 

TDD (202) 512-2537. 

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, 

MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional information.

Connect with GAO on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E-mail Updates. Listen to our Podcasts. 

Visit GAO on the web at www.gao.gov. 

Contact:

Website: http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov, (202) 512-

4400, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 

7125, Washington, DC 20548

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, DC 20548

GAO’s Mission

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony 

Order by Phone

Connect with GAO

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs

Congressional 

Relations 

Public Affairs

Please Print on Recycled Paper.